Angel (1999–2004): Season 5, Episode 19 - Time Bomb - full transcript
Illyria begins acting more strangely than usual. After she rescues Gunn from the suburban hell dimension, she begins displaying more power. After a hint from Hamilton, Wesley discovers that Fred's body is insufficient to contain Illyria's power, and she is about to explode. Meanwhile, Angel discovers that she is unintentionally leapfrogging through time, and uses it as possibly the only way to stop her. Also, Gunn begins to have suspicions about Angel being corrupted when he allows a demonic brethren to accept a pregnant young woman's baby as an upcoming sacrificial item.
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Listen. Please.
What did I do?
Shh.
No. No. Wait!
[ Rumbling ]
[ Groaning ]
Find it. Find--
Gunn. Charles Gunn.
You're-- Fred?
You look terrible.
[ Grunts ]
Illyria.
Move.
Can't.
Can't leave this dimension
unless someone else puts on
the necklace, takes my place.
[ Screams ]
I didn't send her.
We were discussing Gunn.
I explained his situation,
our inability to get him out.
She nodded, created a portal
and disappeared.
So she's just,
what, helping you out?
She's your little helper?
I would hardly call--
Well, she sure was
helpful beatin' me up.
Wes, do you have any idea why
she's doing all this for you?
Does it matter?
She may be able to get him out.
Or she might
get him killed.
It doesn't track, Wes.
Why would she take on
any risk for us?
I doubt this
poses a risk to her.
She has the power of a god.
She has the ego of a god.
She was ruler of the world.
Sort of thing
goes to one's head.
- Apparently.
- I am making progress.
There's distance, of course.
She would never accept
any of us as peers.
But I afford her some amusement
at the very least. It may be
why she's still here.
She's still here because
this place reeks of influence.
She had everything, Wes.
Everything.
You think she's not
looking to get that back?
I wouldn't presume to know
what she wants.
But I understand the resource,
the power she represents.
If we could just find
some way to integrate her.
- To convince her to--
- To do what?
Join the team?
- Gunn!
- Illyria.
- [ Groans ]
- This thing.
- Let him go.
- It's important to you.
- Illyria, stop.
- It holds value.
Worth beyond price.
I said, let him--
Yes, great worth.
A great debt.
You're talking of the debt,
aren't you?
What we owe you.
- [ Groans ]
- Of what you owe me.
Go, team.
[ Chattering ]
All pre-Christian works
dealing with the Demon Age.
Same for Primordium.
Index any mention
of the Old Ones.
Hey.
Gunn.
- First day back?
- Yeah.
I stabbed you.
I should apologize
for that.
But I'm honestly not sure how.
I think it'll just be awkward.
- Good call.
- Okay.
I ain't lookin' for a "sorry."
Don't know if I'd accept it.
Besides, I just got my heart
cut out of my chest every day
for two weeks straight.
Compared to what,
a little jab in the gut?
Kinda over it.
So, uh, what are
you looking for?
I don't know.
A compass maybe.
The thing that killed
my friend just saved my life.
No one knows why.
This place just went
Poseidon on my ass.
I don't know
which way is up.
Everything is...
a bit odd.
I suppose we have to adjust.
I imagine that's what
all this is.
- Adjustment.
- Adjustment?
To things.
To myself.
To this place.
To Illyria.
She definitely takes
adjusting to.
You can't look at her
without seeing...
her body's previous owner.
[ Chuckles ]
But then,
what comes out of her mouth--
pure, unadulterated vertigo.
We look so tiny to her.
But you got her on a leash
or something, right?
No.
[ Chuckles ]
No.
She is monumentally
self-possessed.
She still thinks she's
the god-king of the universe.
So she's like a TV star.
No. Nothing that bad.
A bit more violent though.
[ Panting ]
All right, Grandma.
I'll give you that.
Good one.
This shell.
You had affection for it.
For Fred.
Uh-huh. Tons.
Loved the bird.
Yet you strike at her form
without sentiment.
You ain't her.
I can see it.
Lord knows, I can smell it.
And I got no problem
hitting it.
- You are adapting.
- We do that.
Adaptation is compromise.
It's called learning.
But I guess you know
everything there is to know.
When the world met me,
it shuddered, groaned.
It knelt at my feet.
"Dear Penthouse,
I don't normally write
letters like this, but--"
[ Chuckles ]
- Illyria was all
they needed to know.
- Then came the Internet.
You have nothing.
Your kind has pulled
this domain apart.
Each of you has snatched
a tiny piece of it.
Even those with the mightiest
hordes are paupers.
The one who dies with
the most toys wins, eh?
To never die
and to conquer all--
that is winning.
Now, that's cheating.
[ Angel ]
Spike. Talk to you
for a minute?
- You may go.
- [ Chuckles ]
Yeah. Great.
Thanks so much.
That time-stop thing's
a royal bitch.
But I'm starting to suss out
her million-year-old moves.
Cheeky mix.
A little tae kwon do,
a little Brazilian ninjitsu,
ancestrally speaking.
We have to stop these sessions.
Hang on.
Just now gettin' into it.
Testing her has sharpened
technique I didn't even know
was rusty.
We're not testing her, Spike.
She's testing us.
[ Panting ]
[ Spike ] Got her winded
at least, didn't I?
That's right, little Shiva.
Reckon you'll think
twice next time.
[ Knocking ]
Hey. Shoulder to
the wheel already, huh?
Got to start sometime.
That's what I keep
telling myself anyway.
So you good?
I mean, you look good,
considering.
I just thought
I'd, uh, drop in to--
to see if you were good,
which you are.
[ Clears Throat ]
Good.
What's, uh,
with the incognito?
Oh, I'm about to
go on assignment.
Angel wants me
to start tailing Illyria,
keep tabs on her.
Got a little walkie-talkie
and everything.
Guess Illyria is still
the headline around here.
Front page news
and a walking obituary.
Strange times, huh?
Strange times.
You talked to Wes?
Well, we've exchanged words.
I wouldn't exactly
call it talking.
He's still reeling since
Our Lady of the Blue Bummer
arrived.
- Yeah, I was just in
his office, and he was--
- Oh, God, don't go in there!
That's where he keeps
his full-strength crazy.
Yeah, caught a whiff of that.
I-It's like he's
two different people.
One is almost catatonic.
He's the guy you see
doing the impatient shuffle
around the hallways.
And the other is just
cooped up in there all day,
jittering like
a bug on a hot plate,
obsessing over every
single tidbit he can find
on Illyria.
What's Angel say about it?
Oh, he's not very talky
these days either.
- [ Walkie-talkie Beeping ]
- Lorne, it's Angel.
Can you hear me?
Uh, 10-4, good buddy.
- Lorne, we're gonna
meet in my office, now.
- Uh, copy that.
Okay. Upshot is you don't like
Babe the Blue Ox in your house,
and you want to get rid of her.
Yeah.
So? Are we talking pasture...
or slaughterhouse?
She didn't have a problem
with killing Fred, did she?
Illyria infected Fred with no
more malice than a viral phage.
Hey, look, Wes, I know you're
bonding with her, but--
She's unpredictable,
dangerous, too powerful a being,
too close to being an enemy.
Yes, Angel,
it's self-evident.
Which means we have to
find some kind of weakness.
- Some point of vulnerability.
- You want me to find a way
to kill her.
You got a problem with that?
No.
Good. Because we got more than
enough problems to worry about.
Yeah. For example,
what about the apocalypse?
Still trying to get my head
around that one. Lindsey said
we're in the middle of it?
Oh, yes, the thousand-year war
of good versus evil
is well underway.
Evil just hasn't told
anyone about it yet, which is
probably why they're winning.
Oh, by the way, we're apparently
on the wrong side.
Or the right side,
if you like winning.
- Sounds like
you guys are buying it.
- Next time you go out there,
take a good look around,
'cause it's true, Gunn.
Works for me.
So what's that mean for us?
Tell us how we fight
an invisible war. I don't
even know who we're fighting.
All the evil
we've stopped so far,
and we're still the partners'
number-one earner.
[ Hamilton ] Not anymore.
Let me ask you
something, Angel.
You ever heard the term
"surgical strike?"
Ever heard of the term
"appointment?"
Illyria destroyed
11 torture units before
she found your man,
two troop carriers,
an ice cream truck,
and eight beautifully
maintained lawns.
Not to mention dozens
of employees rendered
useless to the company.
- Bill me.
- Oh, we will.
The damages are
coming directly out of
this division's profits.
Congratulations.
In one swift stroke,
you've gone from leader
of the pack to staggering
at the rear.
And?
Angel,
you're a motivated go-getter at
the top of the corporate ladder.
Why don't you figure out
what comes after "and."
- We're workin' on that.
- Yes, I'm sure you are.
In the meantime,
the partners have a small task
they'd like you to oversee.
I'm sending Gunn the file.
It's good to see you again,
by the way.
It's a simple matter,
but with some very big players.
If this is our chance
to get into a better grace
with the head office,
I'd have to say
it's not my priority.
Oh, no, don't think about us,
Angel. Think about profits.
It's profits that let you keep
this plucky little boatload
of good above water.
It's business, boys,
not a bat cave.
[ Door Closes ]
Well, I'll tell you what.
I still like him
better than Eve.
This day.
What name is it given
in your cycle of days?
I give it...
Monday.
This conversation.
We've had it before.
Well, yes.
We've discussed our system
of temporal measurement...
and our technology,
weights and measures,
local customs, world history--
You're my guide.
Apparently.
You're more than that.
Really?
You're my betrayer.
When you shattered
the Window of Orlon,
you meant to change the past.
To rewrite your history
and the history of this body.
And instead, I brought back
more painful memories.
It was a failure.
I've come to understand
how irreversible
the works of time are.
-But you intended to alter them.
-I wanted to bring back Fred.
- And destroy me.
- As an unavoidable consequence.
Does it sting you?
My betrayal?
Betrayal was a neutral word
in my day.
As unjudged a word
as "water" or "breeze."
No.
Or perhaps...
I am only bothered
because I am bothered.
That sounds very close to human.
Motes of dust.
Mayflies who die so soon
after they're born, they might
as well not live at all.
Now, now. Manners.
Just got the file
from Hamilton.
Skimming it now.
Looks like some sort
of ceremonial demon pact.
You have to sign as witness
for the firm.
You've met Hamilton.
- Sorry?
- The new liaison.
You met him before today?
Yeah.
Came down to my basement
for a visit while I was getting
carved. Offered to get me out.
And what'd you say?
You really have to
ask me that?
I really do.
I turned him down.
Not into making deals.
Not anymore.
Well, that's gonna make it
tough to be a lawyer.
It was tough already.
Making business go smoothly
for a bunch of hideous,
scaly, evil clients.
Excuse me.
I'm here about the demon pact.
They found me.
They said that they
had these seer people...
who told them that my baby
was some kind of holy one.
They said it was a prophecy.
How much do you know
about the Fell Brethren?
Well, they're really religious.
I mean, their religion,
not the God one.
But they've been
really supportive.
They're always bringing me
special shakes and vitamins.
- You realize they're demons.
- Uh-huh. They're
very open about it.
Well, any demonic pact
should be entered into
with caution.
Uh, they can be riddled with
obscure clauses and double-talk.
As our client,
we have to advise you to--
She's not your client.
We are.
Odd.
It doesn't exist
until it cracks apart.
What's that?
Time.
You don't look altogether well.
Your opinion of me
weighs less than sunlight.
- Illyria!
- Wes, do it now!
[ Spike ]
Got her winded at least,
didn't I?
That's right, little Shiva.
Reckon you'll think twice
next time.
[ Spike ]
Good knee to the ribs does tend
to catch up on you, doesn't it?
Illyria?
You tried to murder me.
- Again.
- What? I haven't.
I don't want you dead,
believe me.
I was there.
I saw it.
Bluebird is in flight.
[ Whispering, Indistinct ]
Okay, Angel just needs
another few minutes.
Can I go ahead and grab you
anything to drink?
Coffee? Tea?
Got blood.
What's he doing in there
with the Holy Vessel?
And a variety
of organic colas.
The Brethren have
a delicate relationship
with the vessel.
If she's
presenting any problems,
we should be the ones to--
Believe me, Angel will
take care of everything.
That's what he does.
Yep. I'm sure
he's in there, you know,
getting into her head.
Sowing the seeds of fear.
Don't you worry.
He will snap her
like a pregnant twig.
[ Whispering, Indistinct ]
We'll try an organic cola.
Thank you.
[ Whispering, Indistinct ]
You sure you want to do this?
Yeah, because it's
not too late, Amanda.
This contract has some
wiggle room somewhere in there.
They always do.
But aren't you the guys
that are supposed to tell
me to do it?
We are, and, well,
we're not. We, uh--
[ Beeping ]
[ Lorne ]
Angel-ears, this is
Secret Demon. Come in.
[ Sighs ]
Listen, I've had this
talk before, believe me.
I know it sounds bad
giving up your unborn baby
to a supernatural cult, but--
- [ Beeping ]
- Sorry.
[ Beeps ]
Go on.
See, their entire nation
believes my child
is their next,
you know,
like the Dalai Lama.
They're gonna worship him.
He'll be cared for better
than we could ever.
And he'll be someone.
Somebody important.
We'd never be able to
give him that.
Amanda, the Fell Brethren
leader makes Jim Jones look
like a Sunday school teacher.
- Who's Jim Jones?
- It doesn't matter.
Mr. Gunn, we can't
afford this baby.
My husband,
he was hurt at work.
Brain damage, doctors say.
Incurable.
We're scraping by on
food stamps and disability.
But the Brethren,
they say they can
make him whole again.
Make him remember
who I am.
How does a person
turn all that down?
[ Sighs ]
Excuse us.
[ Sighs ]
I'm not feelin' so good.
Well, first day back
from a vacation in hell.
You know, I'm not surprised.
You know what the worst part
of that place was?
It wasn't the basement.
At least there,
you knew where you stood.
Demon was gonna
cut your heart out
and show it to you.
No. It was the fake life
they gave you upstairs.
Wife, kids, all the icing
on the family cake.
But somewhere underneath it,
there was the nagging certainty
that it was all lies.
That all the smiles
and the birthday candles...
and the homework were just
there to hide the horror.
Is that all
we're doin' here?
- Just hidin' the horror?
- No.
'Cause I don't think
I can stomach it anymore.
Not after all that's happened.
You have to.
Listen to me, Gunn.
I need you to get through this.
Get through all of it so we
can figure out the big picture
and plot our next move.
Angel,
she is our next move.
Um, the Brethren have
finished their colas, Angel,
- and the sugar high
isn't making them any less--
- Send them in, Harmony.
[ Footsteps ]
Curing cancer,
Mr. Wyndam-Pryce?
Wouldn't be cost-effective.
I'm sure we make a lot
from cancer.
Yes. The patent holder
is a client.
So, how's the science game?
I realize you're just
filling in. But, uh--
Do you have a specific need,
Mr. Hamilton?
I'm just wondering if anything
turned up on Illyria.
We have our concerns
about her, too, you know.
Common ground.
Mystifying.
She's a walking nightmare,
isn't she?
Well put.
And yet you seem to be
the closest thing she has
to a friend.
[ Laughing ]
If you knew her, you'd realize
the absurdity of that statement.
Well, the partners
know her, Wesley.
Yes, they go way back.
They don't want her here.
They don't want her
anywhere at all.
But they consider this
to be your problem,
so have a nice fight.
Oh. You might want to
try taking a look at the
low-emanation scanner readouts.
Just a thought.
[ Keyboarding ]
[ Beeping ]
[ Lorne ]
I repeat-- Bluebird got wise.
Secret Demon's cover is blown.
Over-- H-Hello?
Is this on?
[ Beeping ]
Hey, Lyri, when did you
catch onto me? In the elevator?
That was a tough one.
The vampire plays
children's games.
Oh, tag, you're it, honey.
Amanda.
You look wonderful! Huh?
Huh? So full of life.
So, how's our little oven-bun?
Still kicking up a storm,
I hope.
Third trimester!
Any more pressure?
Shortness of breath?
Well, that's normal.
- Are you taking
the black cohosh we sent?
- [ Amanda ] Mm-hmm.
Lovely. Gripmack clipped
some articles out of
this month's Fit Pregnancy.
We'll send those along.
If we can we get underway.
Ahh. Mm-hmm. Good.
And there and done.
- There you are, Amanda.
- Wait a minute. "Gordabach"?
Yes, Gordabach.
Just sign right there, Mom.
No, hang on.
I just want to get
this clause straight.
"The child will be
pampered, worshipped,
and fed a holy diet of berries,
panda meat and urine."
Well, it's consecrated urine.
"And on the eve
of his 13th year,
he will be prepared for
the rites of Gordabach."
That's what,
like a bar mitzvah?
Well, there'll be gifts.
- Amanda,
it's a ritual sacri--
- Whose lawyer are you?
- You will speak to me.
- In the middle of something.
Then I will end it.
Yeah, okay.
- Who's this?
- Come with me.
Well, do you copy ever? Over!
Hey, is your thingy on?
Oh, I'll just wait here then.
You don't interrupt our work,
you understand me?
What is it?
Poison? Magics?
It impresses me,
the power of it.
Whatever you've done,
it can't save you.
To do anything but bow
to my will is absurd,
yet you conspire--
We haven't done
anything to you.
Jealous. Plankton envying
the ocean that holds them.
Yeah, that's great.
Listen, I got things--
Ridiculous apes.
My death won't
prevent your dying.
What have you done to me?
Get your damn hands off me.
You don't know.
Not yet.
It's too early.
You gotta keep your thingy
on for this to work, okay?...
Oh, that's mature.
It's getting a little
shouty in your office.
Let Gunn
take care of it.
[ Sighs ]
Illyria's blown
all her gaskets, man.
She's out of her mind.
How can you tell? Yesterday
she spent two hours mind-melding
with a potted fern.
- She thinks I'm
trying to kill her.
- Aren't you?
Tell me you have something, Wes.
Just anything.
She is unstable.
Overloading, to be
more accurate.
The fusion between her demon
essence and her host's body
seems to be deteriorating.
It's as if the human part
of her can no longer contain
the demonic power within.
We're thinkin' that she
cracked her engine block...
and now she's leakin' petrol
all over.
She's going to self-destruct.
- Violently and soon.
- And you were going to
tell me this when?
- I wasn't. Spike and I
were dealing with it.
- We're motivated go-getters.
The good news is the crack
in her engine block may give us
a chance to get to her.
This is a Mutari generator.
It creates a pinhole
to an infinite
extra-dimensional space.
A negatively charged
pocket universe that should
draw her radiant essence,
her power, into itself
by process of a--
Wes?
Will it kill her?
Yes. Shall we go?
We have to find out
where she, uh--
Oh, here.
[ Beeping ]
Training room, looks like.
- [ Beeping Continues ]
- And gushin' petrol
like a geyser.
So what sort of damage
are we lookin' at
if Illyria Chernobyls on us?
Conservative guess,
several city blocks.
And what about unconservative?
Rand and McNally will
have to redraw their maps.
She in there?
Do you even know
how to use this thing?
Well, that's funny.
I didn't see her leave.
Well, that's the problem.
You don't always see her when--
- Illyria!
- Wes, do it now.
[ Panting ]
[ Angel ] We haven't
done anything to you.
Jealous. Plankton envying
the ocean that holds them.
Yeah, that's great.
Listen, I got things--
Ridiculous apes.
My death won't
prevent your dying.
What have you done to me?
Get your damn hands off me.
[ Wes ]
You all right?
No, I'm not all right.
What the hell did you
do to me?
- Angel--
- You weren't here before.
Where did--
What just happened?
An aberration
in the time line.
It wasn't like this.
[ Groaning ]
Damn it!
What the hell is this?
You followed me.
- Gunn?
- You've been swept up
in my wake.
- This is the holding dimension.
- How did you worms
accomplish this?
We didn't. We--
Accomplish what?
You ripped me out
of linear progression.
Tore my time line into shreds
and stitched it back together
out of sequence.
- Are you kidding?
- You caged me in this
fractured time frame,
in moments that repeat
themselves over and over
without deviation.
But I don't say these words.
I rip the necklace off.
I lift him from the table.
We speak.
And the demon attacks again.
Is it of your sciences?
How do you unweave time
in this way?
This isn't us.
We don't have the power to--
You know what you were
when I was young?
You were the muck
at our feet.
We called you "the ooze
that eats itself."
You were pretty at night.
You sparkled and you stank.
- You still stink of it.
- Will you just shut up
for once?
- What?
- My God, the speechifying.
Has it ever occurred to you...
that now might
not be the best time for
"when we were muck" stories?
You dare to speak
to me in this--
Yes, I dare!
And, yes, we are looking
for a way of controlling you
any way that we can.
I can't have
an X-factor like you
bouncing around unchecked.
Bouncing around?
I know you would do the same
thing. I know that for a fact.
But this is my kingdom,
lady, not yours.
Your kingdom?
I am Illyria,
God-King of the Primordium,
Shaper of Things!
- Yeah, well, that was then.
This is...
- [ Screaming ]
now.
Yes. Nothing's what
it used to be, is it?
- No.
- These are the fruits of
your attempt to murder me.
Your kingdom turned
to ash and stale wind.
I slew the white-haired
one first.
- But this can't be.
- And then Wesley...
as he raised his weapon
and your demon clown
as he wilted in terror.
- And I'm next.
- No, vampire.
You were last.
Why?
You know
nothing of this.
You're from an earlier point
in the time line.
You're a paradox.
You're impossible.
We attacked you.
I didn't give you
the chance.
That you learn
when you become a king.
[ Groans ]
You learn to destroy everything
that's not utterly yours.
All that matters
is victory.
That's how
your reign persists.
You're a slave
to an insane construct.
You are moral.
[ Scoffs ]
A true ruler is as moral
as a hurricane.
Empty but for the force
of his gale.
But you--
[ Panting ]
trapped in the web of the wolf,
the ram, the hart.
So much power here.
And you quibble
at its price.
If you want to win a war,
you must serve no master
but your ambition.
[ Groaning ]
You have not lied.
My undoing is beyond you,
your people.
Something is broken
inside me.
[ Groans ]
My power is too great.
I know this now,
as I know it every time
I come to this moment.
Illyria, if I am here,
if I am paradox, then this
can all change, can't it?
You said things have been
altered. What you said, did.
You can change this outcome.
Change is constant.
Yet things remain the same.
[ Spike ] So what sort
of damage are we lookin' at
if Illyria Chernobyls on us?
- Conservative guess,
several city blocks.
- Wes, you're alive.
Illyria, she's self-destructing.
She's a time bomb.
- Read today's paper, did you?
- What?
You've been yappin' about
nothin' but that
for 10 minutes.
No. I just left meeting
with Illyria. She grabbed me.
We phased through time.
I don't think she meant to
do it. She's overloading.
She's gonna explode.
Yes, we know.
Angel, we've been
over all this.
Do you even know
how to use this thing?
She's come unstuck in time, Wes.
She knows what happens.
She's seen it.
She-She knows
we want to kill her.
Yes, she said that
to me as well.
Oh, guys, this isn't good.
- That's funny.
I didn't even see her leave.
- Well, that's the problem.
"Slew the white-haired
one first."
- Don't always see her
when she's bugger--
- [ Yells ]
[ Groans ]
Wait. Wait!
Illyria, wait, please.
Wes, put that thing down.
Spike, nobody move.
This too. All changing.
[ Groans ]
I know what happens.
I know you kill us all.
Oh, a bit pessimistic,
aren't you?
And then you shudder
and you convulse with pain...
and then the power
inside you explodes.
You are the Angel from the past.
You were swept up
in my wake.
You're not a king anymore.
Your domain is gone,
swallowed by time.
- We've had this conversation.
- You explode. I was there.
It was powerful enough
to blow me back through time.
I have no idea what
it does to the building.
More like the continental
shelf, actually.
I have to stop that.
Do you understand? I cannot
have your death blow away my--
- Your kingdom?
- Yeah, sure. Whatever.
-You ask me to
allow you to murder me.
-It's not murder if you say yes.
No one is murdering you.
This device won't kill you.
What? You said--
I lied.
Illyria, this device
will draw the energy
away from you safely.
- It will allow you to live.
- Your intent is not murder?
- It never was.
- Well, no harm, no foul.
But you tried to destroy me.
To bring back Fred.
That didn't work.
It was a failure.
- But now I know
you're all that's left.
- You want to take my power...
to let me live.
But I am my power.
And I would rather be
a titanic crater than to be
like unto you.
I kill you.
That's how this ends.
Gettin' ahead
of ourselves a bit.
Illyria,
the future can change here.
You can choose a different path.
- And be nothing.
- And be what you are.
- [ Groans ]
- Fighting to hold on to what
you were, it's destroying you.
You would do this to me?
I'd try, anyway.
Every time.
I possess so much grace.
More grace than this
bag of sticks could express.
I was the immaculate
embodiment of rule.
I blame this on the weakness
of your species.
Fair enough.
Illyria?
Touch me and die, vermin.
Not a very dramatic
difference, really.
Everything is different.
So what's the prognosis?
She won't be
stopping time...
or walking
through dimensions.
And I suspect
her physical strength
has decreased somewhat.
That's what I wanted to hear.
You're gonna stay
with her, aren't you?
Yes.
[ Sighs ]
Wes,
I don't like where
this is going.
I don't like where
this has been.
I'm not in love
with this thing, Angel.
But for some reason,
I need it right now.
Yeah. That's just weird.
I know.
She could still prove
to be problematic for us.
Much of what she was
is still intact.
I doubt she'll ever stop
trying to conquer...
everything.
"Serve no master
but your ambition."
What's that?
I think you may have
been right before.
About Illyria
being a resource.
She just might
make the team yet.
[ Fell Demon ] We've sought
this child for decades.
We're not letting go of it now!
[ Gunn ]
Only the mother's consent
will sanctify this transaction.
That's exactly what we have.
Oh, yeah? Show it to me.
It's an agreement in principle.
The child is ours.
I can tear that apart
in a courtroom.
Just watch me.
But we're paying you.
We're not taking your money!
I understand,
Your Holiness, fully.
If this gets fouled here
by that lunatic,
our hordes will
fall on this place.
There won't be so much
as an eyetooth left
of any of them!
Yes, well, that would be more
Angel's business than mine.
[ Fell Demon ]
She won't make it
through another day.
-You think we can't protect her?
-The Fell are everywhere.
We are a force of nature.
Gunn, the baby
belongs to the Fell.
What?
She hasn't signed anything.
There's nothing on paper.
Gentlemen.
Angel.
What are you doin'?
What we're supposed to.
Serve our clients.
Grr! Arrgh!
---
Listen. Please.
What did I do?
Shh.
No. No. Wait!
[ Rumbling ]
[ Groaning ]
Find it. Find--
Gunn. Charles Gunn.
You're-- Fred?
You look terrible.
[ Grunts ]
Illyria.
Move.
Can't.
Can't leave this dimension
unless someone else puts on
the necklace, takes my place.
[ Screams ]
I didn't send her.
We were discussing Gunn.
I explained his situation,
our inability to get him out.
She nodded, created a portal
and disappeared.
So she's just,
what, helping you out?
She's your little helper?
I would hardly call--
Well, she sure was
helpful beatin' me up.
Wes, do you have any idea why
she's doing all this for you?
Does it matter?
She may be able to get him out.
Or she might
get him killed.
It doesn't track, Wes.
Why would she take on
any risk for us?
I doubt this
poses a risk to her.
She has the power of a god.
She has the ego of a god.
She was ruler of the world.
Sort of thing
goes to one's head.
- Apparently.
- I am making progress.
There's distance, of course.
She would never accept
any of us as peers.
But I afford her some amusement
at the very least. It may be
why she's still here.
She's still here because
this place reeks of influence.
She had everything, Wes.
Everything.
You think she's not
looking to get that back?
I wouldn't presume to know
what she wants.
But I understand the resource,
the power she represents.
If we could just find
some way to integrate her.
- To convince her to--
- To do what?
Join the team?
- Gunn!
- Illyria.
- [ Groans ]
- This thing.
- Let him go.
- It's important to you.
- Illyria, stop.
- It holds value.
Worth beyond price.
I said, let him--
Yes, great worth.
A great debt.
You're talking of the debt,
aren't you?
What we owe you.
- [ Groans ]
- Of what you owe me.
Go, team.
[ Chattering ]
All pre-Christian works
dealing with the Demon Age.
Same for Primordium.
Index any mention
of the Old Ones.
Hey.
Gunn.
- First day back?
- Yeah.
I stabbed you.
I should apologize
for that.
But I'm honestly not sure how.
I think it'll just be awkward.
- Good call.
- Okay.
I ain't lookin' for a "sorry."
Don't know if I'd accept it.
Besides, I just got my heart
cut out of my chest every day
for two weeks straight.
Compared to what,
a little jab in the gut?
Kinda over it.
So, uh, what are
you looking for?
I don't know.
A compass maybe.
The thing that killed
my friend just saved my life.
No one knows why.
This place just went
Poseidon on my ass.
I don't know
which way is up.
Everything is...
a bit odd.
I suppose we have to adjust.
I imagine that's what
all this is.
- Adjustment.
- Adjustment?
To things.
To myself.
To this place.
To Illyria.
She definitely takes
adjusting to.
You can't look at her
without seeing...
her body's previous owner.
[ Chuckles ]
But then,
what comes out of her mouth--
pure, unadulterated vertigo.
We look so tiny to her.
But you got her on a leash
or something, right?
No.
[ Chuckles ]
No.
She is monumentally
self-possessed.
She still thinks she's
the god-king of the universe.
So she's like a TV star.
No. Nothing that bad.
A bit more violent though.
[ Panting ]
All right, Grandma.
I'll give you that.
Good one.
This shell.
You had affection for it.
For Fred.
Uh-huh. Tons.
Loved the bird.
Yet you strike at her form
without sentiment.
You ain't her.
I can see it.
Lord knows, I can smell it.
And I got no problem
hitting it.
- You are adapting.
- We do that.
Adaptation is compromise.
It's called learning.
But I guess you know
everything there is to know.
When the world met me,
it shuddered, groaned.
It knelt at my feet.
"Dear Penthouse,
I don't normally write
letters like this, but--"
[ Chuckles ]
- Illyria was all
they needed to know.
- Then came the Internet.
You have nothing.
Your kind has pulled
this domain apart.
Each of you has snatched
a tiny piece of it.
Even those with the mightiest
hordes are paupers.
The one who dies with
the most toys wins, eh?
To never die
and to conquer all--
that is winning.
Now, that's cheating.
[ Angel ]
Spike. Talk to you
for a minute?
- You may go.
- [ Chuckles ]
Yeah. Great.
Thanks so much.
That time-stop thing's
a royal bitch.
But I'm starting to suss out
her million-year-old moves.
Cheeky mix.
A little tae kwon do,
a little Brazilian ninjitsu,
ancestrally speaking.
We have to stop these sessions.
Hang on.
Just now gettin' into it.
Testing her has sharpened
technique I didn't even know
was rusty.
We're not testing her, Spike.
She's testing us.
[ Panting ]
[ Spike ] Got her winded
at least, didn't I?
That's right, little Shiva.
Reckon you'll think
twice next time.
[ Knocking ]
Hey. Shoulder to
the wheel already, huh?
Got to start sometime.
That's what I keep
telling myself anyway.
So you good?
I mean, you look good,
considering.
I just thought
I'd, uh, drop in to--
to see if you were good,
which you are.
[ Clears Throat ]
Good.
What's, uh,
with the incognito?
Oh, I'm about to
go on assignment.
Angel wants me
to start tailing Illyria,
keep tabs on her.
Got a little walkie-talkie
and everything.
Guess Illyria is still
the headline around here.
Front page news
and a walking obituary.
Strange times, huh?
Strange times.
You talked to Wes?
Well, we've exchanged words.
I wouldn't exactly
call it talking.
He's still reeling since
Our Lady of the Blue Bummer
arrived.
- Yeah, I was just in
his office, and he was--
- Oh, God, don't go in there!
That's where he keeps
his full-strength crazy.
Yeah, caught a whiff of that.
I-It's like he's
two different people.
One is almost catatonic.
He's the guy you see
doing the impatient shuffle
around the hallways.
And the other is just
cooped up in there all day,
jittering like
a bug on a hot plate,
obsessing over every
single tidbit he can find
on Illyria.
What's Angel say about it?
Oh, he's not very talky
these days either.
- [ Walkie-talkie Beeping ]
- Lorne, it's Angel.
Can you hear me?
Uh, 10-4, good buddy.
- Lorne, we're gonna
meet in my office, now.
- Uh, copy that.
Okay. Upshot is you don't like
Babe the Blue Ox in your house,
and you want to get rid of her.
Yeah.
So? Are we talking pasture...
or slaughterhouse?
She didn't have a problem
with killing Fred, did she?
Illyria infected Fred with no
more malice than a viral phage.
Hey, look, Wes, I know you're
bonding with her, but--
She's unpredictable,
dangerous, too powerful a being,
too close to being an enemy.
Yes, Angel,
it's self-evident.
Which means we have to
find some kind of weakness.
- Some point of vulnerability.
- You want me to find a way
to kill her.
You got a problem with that?
No.
Good. Because we got more than
enough problems to worry about.
Yeah. For example,
what about the apocalypse?
Still trying to get my head
around that one. Lindsey said
we're in the middle of it?
Oh, yes, the thousand-year war
of good versus evil
is well underway.
Evil just hasn't told
anyone about it yet, which is
probably why they're winning.
Oh, by the way, we're apparently
on the wrong side.
Or the right side,
if you like winning.
- Sounds like
you guys are buying it.
- Next time you go out there,
take a good look around,
'cause it's true, Gunn.
Works for me.
So what's that mean for us?
Tell us how we fight
an invisible war. I don't
even know who we're fighting.
All the evil
we've stopped so far,
and we're still the partners'
number-one earner.
[ Hamilton ] Not anymore.
Let me ask you
something, Angel.
You ever heard the term
"surgical strike?"
Ever heard of the term
"appointment?"
Illyria destroyed
11 torture units before
she found your man,
two troop carriers,
an ice cream truck,
and eight beautifully
maintained lawns.
Not to mention dozens
of employees rendered
useless to the company.
- Bill me.
- Oh, we will.
The damages are
coming directly out of
this division's profits.
Congratulations.
In one swift stroke,
you've gone from leader
of the pack to staggering
at the rear.
And?
Angel,
you're a motivated go-getter at
the top of the corporate ladder.
Why don't you figure out
what comes after "and."
- We're workin' on that.
- Yes, I'm sure you are.
In the meantime,
the partners have a small task
they'd like you to oversee.
I'm sending Gunn the file.
It's good to see you again,
by the way.
It's a simple matter,
but with some very big players.
If this is our chance
to get into a better grace
with the head office,
I'd have to say
it's not my priority.
Oh, no, don't think about us,
Angel. Think about profits.
It's profits that let you keep
this plucky little boatload
of good above water.
It's business, boys,
not a bat cave.
[ Door Closes ]
Well, I'll tell you what.
I still like him
better than Eve.
This day.
What name is it given
in your cycle of days?
I give it...
Monday.
This conversation.
We've had it before.
Well, yes.
We've discussed our system
of temporal measurement...
and our technology,
weights and measures,
local customs, world history--
You're my guide.
Apparently.
You're more than that.
Really?
You're my betrayer.
When you shattered
the Window of Orlon,
you meant to change the past.
To rewrite your history
and the history of this body.
And instead, I brought back
more painful memories.
It was a failure.
I've come to understand
how irreversible
the works of time are.
-But you intended to alter them.
-I wanted to bring back Fred.
- And destroy me.
- As an unavoidable consequence.
Does it sting you?
My betrayal?
Betrayal was a neutral word
in my day.
As unjudged a word
as "water" or "breeze."
No.
Or perhaps...
I am only bothered
because I am bothered.
That sounds very close to human.
Motes of dust.
Mayflies who die so soon
after they're born, they might
as well not live at all.
Now, now. Manners.
Just got the file
from Hamilton.
Skimming it now.
Looks like some sort
of ceremonial demon pact.
You have to sign as witness
for the firm.
You've met Hamilton.
- Sorry?
- The new liaison.
You met him before today?
Yeah.
Came down to my basement
for a visit while I was getting
carved. Offered to get me out.
And what'd you say?
You really have to
ask me that?
I really do.
I turned him down.
Not into making deals.
Not anymore.
Well, that's gonna make it
tough to be a lawyer.
It was tough already.
Making business go smoothly
for a bunch of hideous,
scaly, evil clients.
Excuse me.
I'm here about the demon pact.
They found me.
They said that they
had these seer people...
who told them that my baby
was some kind of holy one.
They said it was a prophecy.
How much do you know
about the Fell Brethren?
Well, they're really religious.
I mean, their religion,
not the God one.
But they've been
really supportive.
They're always bringing me
special shakes and vitamins.
- You realize they're demons.
- Uh-huh. They're
very open about it.
Well, any demonic pact
should be entered into
with caution.
Uh, they can be riddled with
obscure clauses and double-talk.
As our client,
we have to advise you to--
She's not your client.
We are.
Odd.
It doesn't exist
until it cracks apart.
What's that?
Time.
You don't look altogether well.
Your opinion of me
weighs less than sunlight.
- Illyria!
- Wes, do it now!
[ Spike ]
Got her winded at least,
didn't I?
That's right, little Shiva.
Reckon you'll think twice
next time.
[ Spike ]
Good knee to the ribs does tend
to catch up on you, doesn't it?
Illyria?
You tried to murder me.
- Again.
- What? I haven't.
I don't want you dead,
believe me.
I was there.
I saw it.
Bluebird is in flight.
[ Whispering, Indistinct ]
Okay, Angel just needs
another few minutes.
Can I go ahead and grab you
anything to drink?
Coffee? Tea?
Got blood.
What's he doing in there
with the Holy Vessel?
And a variety
of organic colas.
The Brethren have
a delicate relationship
with the vessel.
If she's
presenting any problems,
we should be the ones to--
Believe me, Angel will
take care of everything.
That's what he does.
Yep. I'm sure
he's in there, you know,
getting into her head.
Sowing the seeds of fear.
Don't you worry.
He will snap her
like a pregnant twig.
[ Whispering, Indistinct ]
We'll try an organic cola.
Thank you.
[ Whispering, Indistinct ]
You sure you want to do this?
Yeah, because it's
not too late, Amanda.
This contract has some
wiggle room somewhere in there.
They always do.
But aren't you the guys
that are supposed to tell
me to do it?
We are, and, well,
we're not. We, uh--
[ Beeping ]
[ Lorne ]
Angel-ears, this is
Secret Demon. Come in.
[ Sighs ]
Listen, I've had this
talk before, believe me.
I know it sounds bad
giving up your unborn baby
to a supernatural cult, but--
- [ Beeping ]
- Sorry.
[ Beeps ]
Go on.
See, their entire nation
believes my child
is their next,
you know,
like the Dalai Lama.
They're gonna worship him.
He'll be cared for better
than we could ever.
And he'll be someone.
Somebody important.
We'd never be able to
give him that.
Amanda, the Fell Brethren
leader makes Jim Jones look
like a Sunday school teacher.
- Who's Jim Jones?
- It doesn't matter.
Mr. Gunn, we can't
afford this baby.
My husband,
he was hurt at work.
Brain damage, doctors say.
Incurable.
We're scraping by on
food stamps and disability.
But the Brethren,
they say they can
make him whole again.
Make him remember
who I am.
How does a person
turn all that down?
[ Sighs ]
Excuse us.
[ Sighs ]
I'm not feelin' so good.
Well, first day back
from a vacation in hell.
You know, I'm not surprised.
You know what the worst part
of that place was?
It wasn't the basement.
At least there,
you knew where you stood.
Demon was gonna
cut your heart out
and show it to you.
No. It was the fake life
they gave you upstairs.
Wife, kids, all the icing
on the family cake.
But somewhere underneath it,
there was the nagging certainty
that it was all lies.
That all the smiles
and the birthday candles...
and the homework were just
there to hide the horror.
Is that all
we're doin' here?
- Just hidin' the horror?
- No.
'Cause I don't think
I can stomach it anymore.
Not after all that's happened.
You have to.
Listen to me, Gunn.
I need you to get through this.
Get through all of it so we
can figure out the big picture
and plot our next move.
Angel,
she is our next move.
Um, the Brethren have
finished their colas, Angel,
- and the sugar high
isn't making them any less--
- Send them in, Harmony.
[ Footsteps ]
Curing cancer,
Mr. Wyndam-Pryce?
Wouldn't be cost-effective.
I'm sure we make a lot
from cancer.
Yes. The patent holder
is a client.
So, how's the science game?
I realize you're just
filling in. But, uh--
Do you have a specific need,
Mr. Hamilton?
I'm just wondering if anything
turned up on Illyria.
We have our concerns
about her, too, you know.
Common ground.
Mystifying.
She's a walking nightmare,
isn't she?
Well put.
And yet you seem to be
the closest thing she has
to a friend.
[ Laughing ]
If you knew her, you'd realize
the absurdity of that statement.
Well, the partners
know her, Wesley.
Yes, they go way back.
They don't want her here.
They don't want her
anywhere at all.
But they consider this
to be your problem,
so have a nice fight.
Oh. You might want to
try taking a look at the
low-emanation scanner readouts.
Just a thought.
[ Keyboarding ]
[ Beeping ]
[ Lorne ]
I repeat-- Bluebird got wise.
Secret Demon's cover is blown.
Over-- H-Hello?
Is this on?
[ Beeping ]
Hey, Lyri, when did you
catch onto me? In the elevator?
That was a tough one.
The vampire plays
children's games.
Oh, tag, you're it, honey.
Amanda.
You look wonderful! Huh?
Huh? So full of life.
So, how's our little oven-bun?
Still kicking up a storm,
I hope.
Third trimester!
Any more pressure?
Shortness of breath?
Well, that's normal.
- Are you taking
the black cohosh we sent?
- [ Amanda ] Mm-hmm.
Lovely. Gripmack clipped
some articles out of
this month's Fit Pregnancy.
We'll send those along.
If we can we get underway.
Ahh. Mm-hmm. Good.
And there and done.
- There you are, Amanda.
- Wait a minute. "Gordabach"?
Yes, Gordabach.
Just sign right there, Mom.
No, hang on.
I just want to get
this clause straight.
"The child will be
pampered, worshipped,
and fed a holy diet of berries,
panda meat and urine."
Well, it's consecrated urine.
"And on the eve
of his 13th year,
he will be prepared for
the rites of Gordabach."
That's what,
like a bar mitzvah?
Well, there'll be gifts.
- Amanda,
it's a ritual sacri--
- Whose lawyer are you?
- You will speak to me.
- In the middle of something.
Then I will end it.
Yeah, okay.
- Who's this?
- Come with me.
Well, do you copy ever? Over!
Hey, is your thingy on?
Oh, I'll just wait here then.
You don't interrupt our work,
you understand me?
What is it?
Poison? Magics?
It impresses me,
the power of it.
Whatever you've done,
it can't save you.
To do anything but bow
to my will is absurd,
yet you conspire--
We haven't done
anything to you.
Jealous. Plankton envying
the ocean that holds them.
Yeah, that's great.
Listen, I got things--
Ridiculous apes.
My death won't
prevent your dying.
What have you done to me?
Get your damn hands off me.
You don't know.
Not yet.
It's too early.
You gotta keep your thingy
on for this to work, okay?...
Oh, that's mature.
It's getting a little
shouty in your office.
Let Gunn
take care of it.
[ Sighs ]
Illyria's blown
all her gaskets, man.
She's out of her mind.
How can you tell? Yesterday
she spent two hours mind-melding
with a potted fern.
- She thinks I'm
trying to kill her.
- Aren't you?
Tell me you have something, Wes.
Just anything.
She is unstable.
Overloading, to be
more accurate.
The fusion between her demon
essence and her host's body
seems to be deteriorating.
It's as if the human part
of her can no longer contain
the demonic power within.
We're thinkin' that she
cracked her engine block...
and now she's leakin' petrol
all over.
She's going to self-destruct.
- Violently and soon.
- And you were going to
tell me this when?
- I wasn't. Spike and I
were dealing with it.
- We're motivated go-getters.
The good news is the crack
in her engine block may give us
a chance to get to her.
This is a Mutari generator.
It creates a pinhole
to an infinite
extra-dimensional space.
A negatively charged
pocket universe that should
draw her radiant essence,
her power, into itself
by process of a--
Wes?
Will it kill her?
Yes. Shall we go?
We have to find out
where she, uh--
Oh, here.
[ Beeping ]
Training room, looks like.
- [ Beeping Continues ]
- And gushin' petrol
like a geyser.
So what sort of damage
are we lookin' at
if Illyria Chernobyls on us?
Conservative guess,
several city blocks.
And what about unconservative?
Rand and McNally will
have to redraw their maps.
She in there?
Do you even know
how to use this thing?
Well, that's funny.
I didn't see her leave.
Well, that's the problem.
You don't always see her when--
- Illyria!
- Wes, do it now.
[ Panting ]
[ Angel ] We haven't
done anything to you.
Jealous. Plankton envying
the ocean that holds them.
Yeah, that's great.
Listen, I got things--
Ridiculous apes.
My death won't
prevent your dying.
What have you done to me?
Get your damn hands off me.
[ Wes ]
You all right?
No, I'm not all right.
What the hell did you
do to me?
- Angel--
- You weren't here before.
Where did--
What just happened?
An aberration
in the time line.
It wasn't like this.
[ Groaning ]
Damn it!
What the hell is this?
You followed me.
- Gunn?
- You've been swept up
in my wake.
- This is the holding dimension.
- How did you worms
accomplish this?
We didn't. We--
Accomplish what?
You ripped me out
of linear progression.
Tore my time line into shreds
and stitched it back together
out of sequence.
- Are you kidding?
- You caged me in this
fractured time frame,
in moments that repeat
themselves over and over
without deviation.
But I don't say these words.
I rip the necklace off.
I lift him from the table.
We speak.
And the demon attacks again.
Is it of your sciences?
How do you unweave time
in this way?
This isn't us.
We don't have the power to--
You know what you were
when I was young?
You were the muck
at our feet.
We called you "the ooze
that eats itself."
You were pretty at night.
You sparkled and you stank.
- You still stink of it.
- Will you just shut up
for once?
- What?
- My God, the speechifying.
Has it ever occurred to you...
that now might
not be the best time for
"when we were muck" stories?
You dare to speak
to me in this--
Yes, I dare!
And, yes, we are looking
for a way of controlling you
any way that we can.
I can't have
an X-factor like you
bouncing around unchecked.
Bouncing around?
I know you would do the same
thing. I know that for a fact.
But this is my kingdom,
lady, not yours.
Your kingdom?
I am Illyria,
God-King of the Primordium,
Shaper of Things!
- Yeah, well, that was then.
This is...
- [ Screaming ]
now.
Yes. Nothing's what
it used to be, is it?
- No.
- These are the fruits of
your attempt to murder me.
Your kingdom turned
to ash and stale wind.
I slew the white-haired
one first.
- But this can't be.
- And then Wesley...
as he raised his weapon
and your demon clown
as he wilted in terror.
- And I'm next.
- No, vampire.
You were last.
Why?
You know
nothing of this.
You're from an earlier point
in the time line.
You're a paradox.
You're impossible.
We attacked you.
I didn't give you
the chance.
That you learn
when you become a king.
[ Groans ]
You learn to destroy everything
that's not utterly yours.
All that matters
is victory.
That's how
your reign persists.
You're a slave
to an insane construct.
You are moral.
[ Scoffs ]
A true ruler is as moral
as a hurricane.
Empty but for the force
of his gale.
But you--
[ Panting ]
trapped in the web of the wolf,
the ram, the hart.
So much power here.
And you quibble
at its price.
If you want to win a war,
you must serve no master
but your ambition.
[ Groaning ]
You have not lied.
My undoing is beyond you,
your people.
Something is broken
inside me.
[ Groans ]
My power is too great.
I know this now,
as I know it every time
I come to this moment.
Illyria, if I am here,
if I am paradox, then this
can all change, can't it?
You said things have been
altered. What you said, did.
You can change this outcome.
Change is constant.
Yet things remain the same.
[ Spike ] So what sort
of damage are we lookin' at
if Illyria Chernobyls on us?
- Conservative guess,
several city blocks.
- Wes, you're alive.
Illyria, she's self-destructing.
She's a time bomb.
- Read today's paper, did you?
- What?
You've been yappin' about
nothin' but that
for 10 minutes.
No. I just left meeting
with Illyria. She grabbed me.
We phased through time.
I don't think she meant to
do it. She's overloading.
She's gonna explode.
Yes, we know.
Angel, we've been
over all this.
Do you even know
how to use this thing?
She's come unstuck in time, Wes.
She knows what happens.
She's seen it.
She-She knows
we want to kill her.
Yes, she said that
to me as well.
Oh, guys, this isn't good.
- That's funny.
I didn't even see her leave.
- Well, that's the problem.
"Slew the white-haired
one first."
- Don't always see her
when she's bugger--
- [ Yells ]
[ Groans ]
Wait. Wait!
Illyria, wait, please.
Wes, put that thing down.
Spike, nobody move.
This too. All changing.
[ Groans ]
I know what happens.
I know you kill us all.
Oh, a bit pessimistic,
aren't you?
And then you shudder
and you convulse with pain...
and then the power
inside you explodes.
You are the Angel from the past.
You were swept up
in my wake.
You're not a king anymore.
Your domain is gone,
swallowed by time.
- We've had this conversation.
- You explode. I was there.
It was powerful enough
to blow me back through time.
I have no idea what
it does to the building.
More like the continental
shelf, actually.
I have to stop that.
Do you understand? I cannot
have your death blow away my--
- Your kingdom?
- Yeah, sure. Whatever.
-You ask me to
allow you to murder me.
-It's not murder if you say yes.
No one is murdering you.
This device won't kill you.
What? You said--
I lied.
Illyria, this device
will draw the energy
away from you safely.
- It will allow you to live.
- Your intent is not murder?
- It never was.
- Well, no harm, no foul.
But you tried to destroy me.
To bring back Fred.
That didn't work.
It was a failure.
- But now I know
you're all that's left.
- You want to take my power...
to let me live.
But I am my power.
And I would rather be
a titanic crater than to be
like unto you.
I kill you.
That's how this ends.
Gettin' ahead
of ourselves a bit.
Illyria,
the future can change here.
You can choose a different path.
- And be nothing.
- And be what you are.
- [ Groans ]
- Fighting to hold on to what
you were, it's destroying you.
You would do this to me?
I'd try, anyway.
Every time.
I possess so much grace.
More grace than this
bag of sticks could express.
I was the immaculate
embodiment of rule.
I blame this on the weakness
of your species.
Fair enough.
Illyria?
Touch me and die, vermin.
Not a very dramatic
difference, really.
Everything is different.
So what's the prognosis?
She won't be
stopping time...
or walking
through dimensions.
And I suspect
her physical strength
has decreased somewhat.
That's what I wanted to hear.
You're gonna stay
with her, aren't you?
Yes.
[ Sighs ]
Wes,
I don't like where
this is going.
I don't like where
this has been.
I'm not in love
with this thing, Angel.
But for some reason,
I need it right now.
Yeah. That's just weird.
I know.
She could still prove
to be problematic for us.
Much of what she was
is still intact.
I doubt she'll ever stop
trying to conquer...
everything.
"Serve no master
but your ambition."
What's that?
I think you may have
been right before.
About Illyria
being a resource.
She just might
make the team yet.
[ Fell Demon ] We've sought
this child for decades.
We're not letting go of it now!
[ Gunn ]
Only the mother's consent
will sanctify this transaction.
That's exactly what we have.
Oh, yeah? Show it to me.
It's an agreement in principle.
The child is ours.
I can tear that apart
in a courtroom.
Just watch me.
But we're paying you.
We're not taking your money!
I understand,
Your Holiness, fully.
If this gets fouled here
by that lunatic,
our hordes will
fall on this place.
There won't be so much
as an eyetooth left
of any of them!
Yes, well, that would be more
Angel's business than mine.
[ Fell Demon ]
She won't make it
through another day.
-You think we can't protect her?
-The Fell are everywhere.
We are a force of nature.
Gunn, the baby
belongs to the Fell.
What?
She hasn't signed anything.
There's nothing on paper.
Gentlemen.
Angel.
What are you doin'?
What we're supposed to.
Serve our clients.
Grr! Arrgh!